STFM is proud to announce the official launch of Future Family Docs, a campaign designed to inspire and support outreach activities by our STFM members to premedical students to promote careers in family medicine. The campaign is organized in 3 ways: (1) a Web site of resource materials to use with students of all ages, (2) a schedule of features in STFM publications, along with discussion and “buzz” at all STFM events, and (3) new partnerships with other organizations who are tackling the same issue of changing the pipeline into medicine. We will promote the importance of mentoring and coaching and exposing young people before medical school to the joys of family medicine. We will target the young people in our own medical practice communities—children from rural communities, children with economic challenges, children of recent immigrant families, and children from minority ethnic communities. This is our next stage of action to fulfill our society’s charge from the Future of Family Medicine report, namely, “To Promote a Sufficient Family Medicine Workforce”.
At the Web site http://www.futurefamilydocs.org, members can find resources to assist with tackling some local mentoring, recruitment, and student “marketing” campaigns about family medicine. For example, are you thinking about leading a session on primary health care careers in a high school? Our resources include a slide show and a medical school planning guide that you can use for your presentation. We are in the process of building an inventory of STFM member pipeline programs. From this directory, you can contact and learn from STFM colleagues about how they are doing these initiatives, how they are organizing them, funding them, and more. Also on the site are legislative updates related to pipeline activities and inspiring stories and reflective pieces on mentoring, role modeling, and coaching, from the perspective of the mentor or the mentee. The Web site will continue to be filled throughout the year with your contributions. Send some today to our Web site coordinators listed on http://www.futurefamilydocs.org.
We will continue our discussion about this premedical recruitment campaign within our membership. At all STFM conferences this year, you will see buttons with “Future Family Docs Rocks!” emblazoned. At the Conference on Predoctoral Education in Memphis, Tenn, at the Conference on Families and Health in Austin, Tex, and at the Annual Spring Conference in Chicago, Ill, we will continue the buzz, highlighting the presentations that focus on mentoring and the pipeline and combing the conference for new programs and creative ideas to share on the Web. We will feature inspiring stories in our STFM Messenger, in Family Medicine, and in our organizational update in the Annals of Family Medicine.
STFM will link to other sister organizations such as (1) the AAFP and its new resource booklet for college and high school students called, “Explore Family Medicine…A Roadmap for Your Future,” (2) the AAMC Web site (http://www.AspiringDocs.com), promoting health careers in minority college and high school students, and (3) the National AHEC Web site (http://www.nationalahec.org), where you can discover AHEC programs that link community children to programs promoting and supporting health careers.
I’d like to recognize the STFM Strategic Task Force Subcommittee for Premedical Recruitment: Terry Steyer, MD; Charles Mouton, MD; Stacy Brungardt, CAE; and the Future Family Docs Web site coordinating group: Dede Willis, MD, MBA, (inventory); Teresa Kulie, MD (stories); Carman Whiting, MD (resources); and Terry Steyer, MD (legislative issues).
I encourage you to jump on board the Future Family Docs bandwagon and check out the Web site today!
- © 2007 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.